WILMINGTON — City officials hope to get a grant to help repair a department building.
At Thursday’s Wilmington City Council meeting, Safety/Service Director Brian Shidaker presented five resolutions authorizing him to apply for federal and state grants
“There’s no guarantees, although the federal grants are more likely (to happen) than the state grants,” he said.
One resolution is to rescind a resolution approved at the March 18 council meeting. The new one would be for the Formula Grants for Rural Areas.
According to Federal Transit Administration’s website, the program “provides capital, planning, and operating assistance to states to support public transportation in rural areas with populations of less than 50,000, where many residents often rely on public transit to reach their destinations. The program also provides funding for state and national training and technical assistance through the Rural Transportation Assistance Program.”
Shidaker described this as the “heart and soul” of the city’s Transit Department.
“We’ve typically used this for the vans and the buses. This year, (City Transportation Director Larry Dale Bennington) and his team, they’ve discovered we can use this for more than just the buses and the vans. We can use this for the (Transit Department) building as well,” said Shidaker.
He told council they’d like to repair the Charles Street building’s roof, parking lot, garage floor, and entry doors as well as other issues.
“There haven’t been any major, significant repairs to the building since it opened back in 2002,” he said.
This resolution, along with the other four, were approved by the council.
The previous resolution would’ve allowed Shidaker to submit a proposal with the Ohio Department of Transportation for a grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration.
The grant would be to “ensure that disadvantaged businesses shall have the maximum construction contracts, supplies, equipment contracts, or consultant and other services,” according to the original resolution.
